Hotel boss charged for vice

[Ginchiyo Tachibana]

Apr 20, 2010
Hotel boss charged for vice

<!-- by line --> By Koh Hui Theng
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<== 100/1/60 excl.

A total of 7,614 female foreigners were arrested islandwide for vice-related activities in 2009, compared with 5,047 arrests in 2008. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

IN THE first case of its kind, police have brought charges against a budget hotel licensee for knowingly facilitating vice activities within the hotel's premises, in a signal to errant hotel operators to clean up their act. On Feb 10, police conducted a check on a hotel located along Kitchener Road and arrested two woman foreigners who were believed to be involved in vice activities. The women were found in the company of male clients in the room and were believed to be offering sexual services for a fee.

Investigations revealed that the hotel staff had knowingly allowed the female foreigners to ply their trade within the hotel's premises. Under regulation 24(1) of the Hotels Licensing Regulations, no licensee of a hotel shopuld allow any person whom he knows or has reason to believe is a prostitute to occupy a room in the hotel or to frequent the premises. Offenders can be fined up to $1,000 and up to $2,000 for a second or subsequent conviction. A total of 7,614 female foreigners were arrested islandwide for vice-related activities in 2009, compared with 5,047 arrests in 2008.

 

[General Veers]

Hotel boss admits vice trade


Apr 21, 2010
Hotel boss admits vice trade

<!-- by line --> By Elena Chong
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Siah Chen Long, 52, the licensee of Shing Hotel at Kitchener Road, admitted to contravening a regulation of the Hotels Licensing Regulations on Feb 10 (2010). -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

A HOTEL owner was taken to court on Wednesday for allowing prostitutes to use the hotel rooms for their trade. Siah Chen Long, 52, the licensee of Shing Hotel at Kitchener Road, admitted to contravening a regulation of the Hotels Licensing Regulations on Feb 10 (2010). A magistrate's court heard that a police officer was keeping an eye for vice activities nearby when he saw a few women loitering outside Shing Hotel and approaching unknown male passers-by.

He and his colleagues moved in after the women had checked into the hotel with men. Upon checking three rooms, they arrested three women. Investigation showed that two of the women earned between $50 and $100 by providing sexual services to men at the premises. The prosecution sought a three-week adjournment to apply to the court to revoke the licence. Siah, who will return on May 12, may be fined up to $1,000 for the breach.

 

[zuoom]

Re: Hotel boss admits vice trade

would he just be the TPK?

 

[lauhumku]

Budget hotel boss charged


Apr 22, 2010
Budget hotel boss charged

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Siah admitted breaching hotel licensing regulations by allowing prostitutes to use his rooms for vice activities. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

<!-- story content : start --> BUDGET hotel owner Siah Chen Long, who was convicted yesterday of allowing prostitutes to carry out vice activities in his hotel, may end up paying more than just the maximum $1,000 fine for the offence. The 52-year-old could end up losing his licence to run Shing Hotel in Kitchener Road, where police discovered two prostitutes soliciting business and then taking men to their hotel rooms on Feb 10. Yesterday, the prosecution asked the court to adjourn sentencing for Siah so that it can have time to try and revoke his licence. Granting the request, District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan adjourned the case to May 12.

Earlier in the day, Siah admitted breaching hotel licensing regulations by allowing the women to use the rooms for prostitution. The court heard how police officers from Central Police Division had spotted a few women loitering outside the hotel and approaching men passing by at about 1.20am on Feb 10. The officers moved in after the women had gone into the hotel with the men. They checked three guest rooms and arrested them. When questioned by police, the hotel receptionist admitted he knew the women were prostitutes and had seen them in the hotel with different men on separate occasions.

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.
ELENA CHONG

 

[SwineHunter]

Will budget hotels review operations?


Will budget hotels review operations?

by Shaffiq Alkhatib
05:55 AM Apr 22, 2010

<!--replace --> <script type="text/javascript"> var fontIndex = 2; // var fontSize = new Array("0.63em", "0.69em", "0.75em", "0.88em", "1em", "1.13em"); var fontSize = new Array('0.63em', '0.69em', '0.75em', '0.88em', '1em', '1.13em'); </script> SINGAPORE - In the first case of its kind, Siah Cheng Long, the owner of a budget hotel, pleaded guilty in court yesterday to breaking Hotel Licensing Regulations.

The Shing Hotel was one of those involved in a police crackdown on vice that saw more than 7,600 women arrested islandwide last year.

But will this turn of events herald a change in the modus operandi of budget hotels that charge by the hour?

None of the hotels contacted by MediaCorp were willing to say anything on record. But some, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they will stick to current modes of operation. This is because it is not feasible to reject clients they suspect of being involved in the vice trade.

And indeed, there are legitimate reasons why some guests may prefer to pay by the hour.

"For example, (if) you are staying at the hotel for an event ... you only need a room maybe for refreshing (yourself) before you attend a function," said Mr Aaron Hung, a lecturer at the Adjunct Faculty, Travel and Tourism at Singapore Management University.

Or maybe you would like to rest for a couple of hours before your flight, he added.

It is still early to say what ramifications the case will have for such hotel operators, but the authorities have already sent an important "wake-up call for them to tighten up their ground procedures as well as pay more heed to their obligations under the hotel regulations", said lawyer Amolat Singh.

"The authorities may have decided to crack down because probably it was a runaway situation. It became so blatant and some (hotel operators) probably thought that because this law has not been enforced for a while, (that) either the law has lost its teeth, or that it would not be enforced."

Under the Hotels Licensing Regulations, licensees face prosecution if they allow anyone whom they know, or have reason to believe is a prostitute, to occupy a room or frequent the premises.

 

[General Veers]

Sentencing for hotel owner adjourned


Sentencing for hotel owner adjourned
By Shaffiq Alkhatib | Posted: 14 July 2010 1716 hrs
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Siah Chen Long, owner of Shing Hotel. - TODAY photo </td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td class="update"></td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>
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SINGAPORE: A district court has adjourned to a later date the sentencing of a hotel owner who had permitted sex workers to ply their trade on his property.

52-year-old Siah Chen Long who was supposed to be sentenced on Wednesday will be back in court on July 28.

His lawyer, Harold Seet told District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan that he needed more time to prepare his client's mitigation.

Siah who owns Shing Hotel at Kitchener Road in Little India was convicted in April this year.

He could be fined S$1,000 for his offence.

A hotel licensee who knowingly allows sex workers to frequent his premises breaches the Hotels Licensing Regulations.

The court may cancel or suspend any of the hotel's certificate of registration.

It may also cancel any license granted to the hotel. - CNA/vm

 

[konglanjiaowei]

Shing Hotel case: Receptionist told not to allow sex workers into the premises
By Shaffiq Alkhatib | Posted: 28 July 2010 1542 hrs
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Siah Chen Long, owner of Shing Hotel. - TODAY photo </td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td class="update"></td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
SINGAPORE: The owner of a budget hotel, who was convicted of allowing sex workers to ply their trade in his rooms, has now claimed that he had instructed his receptionist not to allow such women inside the property, a district court heard on Wednesday.

52-year-old Siah Chen Long who owns Shing Hotel at Kitchener Road pleaded guilty to his offence in April this year.

In mitigation, his lawyer, Harold Seet told the court that the receptionist did not heed his client's instructions and allowed sex workers to operate inside the hotel.

Siah could lose his hotel-operating license as a result.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Agnes Chan highlighted that Siah was earlier caught committing the same offence on 19 September 2009.

He was given a warning for it on 4 February this year which he signed and acknowledged.

But he committed the offence again six days later.

The case has been adjourned to next Wednesday. -CNA/vm

 

[Cao Pi]

Owner's guilty plea rejected


Aug 4, 2010
Owner's guilty plea rejected

<!-- by line --> By Elena Chong, Court Correspondent
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A DISTRICT judge rejected the guilty plea of a hotel owner and licensee on a charge of knowingly allowing vice on its premises. Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan found that Siah Chen Long had qualified his plea in the mitigation given by his lawyer, who disputed some facts of the case.

Under the circumstances, he said he was not at all satisfied that he should accept the 52-year-old's guilty plea. The prosecution had earlier asked the court to exercise its discretion to revoke Siah's licence to operate Shing Hotel in Kitchener Road following Siah's conviction on the charge.

Siah was unrepresented in April when he admitted to allowing prostitutes to use the guest rooms to ply their trade in February. When he was due for sentencing, a lawyer came on board and tried to retract his plea but was unsuccessful.

Siah later engaged Mr Harold Seet and Mr Raymond Lim to act for him. The case has been fixed for a pre-trial conference on Aug 12. In addition to a fine of up to $1,000 upon conviction, the court may cancel the licence of the offender.

 

[Red 5]

Owner loses licence for vice


Nov 10, 2010

Owner loses licence for vice

By Khushwant Singh

BUDGET hotel owner Siah Chen Long on Wednesday became the first offender to lose his hotel licence for allowing prostitutes to carry out vice activities in the hotel rooms. The 53-year-old will now not be able to run the Shing Hotel in Kitchener Road in Little India. However, he could rent it out, or get someone else to take over the premises as a new licensee. Siah, who had pleaded guilty and convicted on Monday, was also fined $800.

The court heard how police officers from Central Police Division had spotted a few foreign women loitering outside the hotel and approaching men passing by at about 1.20 am on Feb 10. The officers moved in after the women had gone into the hotel with the men. They checked three guest rooms and arrested the women for prostitution. When questioned, the hotel receptionist admitted to police that he knew the women were prostitutes and had seen them in the hotel with different men on other occasions.

This was not the first time Shing Hotel had allowed vice activities on its premises and the prosecution took the unprecedented move of applying to revoke Siah's certificate of registration and licence. The court was told Siah had received a stern police warning for a similar offence on Feb 4. 'By committing another breach barely six days' after the warning was administered, the hotel owner had not appreciated the leniency which was shown to him previously,' the prosecutor had argued.

[email protected]

 

[zuoom]

Re: Owner loses licence for vice

and then someone else comes in with another hotel license and the cycle starts again.

 

[evisionary]

Re: Owner loses licence for vice

Prostitution is not illegal in Singapore but authorities use such methods to control their activities. Grey areas.